As summer continues to unwind and fall approaches, a welcome addition for young families awaits at Hambden Township Park.
As summer continues to unwind and fall approaches, a welcome addition for young families awaits at Hambden Township Park.
For mom Kaitlyn Lucarelli, the playground is nostalgic.
Lucarelli attended Hambden Elementary School and used to love playing on the playground across the street at Hambden Township Park.
Now, she delights in building fond memories there with her 2-year-old daughter, Lilah.
Hambden Township Park, at 13860 GAR Highway, recently upgraded their playground equipment along with new artificial turf, which many families enjoyed during the township’s recent annual Community Picnic Aug. 11.
“I love looking across the park from the town hall, seeing kid after kid pop out of the swirl slide on the new play unit,” Hambden Township Trustee Keith McClintock said. “Makes my heart happy. The turf landing area is a great addition to the park and is an inventive safety surface.”
Joyce Edelinsky, chair of Hambden Township Park and Recreation Board, worked on the installation of a new typhoon slide structure beginning in 2023.
She said the wood jungle gym structure, with metal slides — a fixture in the park for over 37 years — was deteriorating and had to be replaced.
“The wood jungle gym was the most used piece of play equipment in the park,” Edelinsky said. “Kids of all ages were attracted to it because of its height and the two metal high sloping slides. The board wanted to repurpose the metal slides to a new structure and was able to do so with one of the slides. Every piece of play equipment has to meet a fall area safety requirement and to meet those requirements, state-of-the-art artificial turf was installed.”
Lucarelli said as a parent to a younger child, she loves the rubber turf and the little kids’ playground.
“I think that the new playground is fun and with the slides, I feel really safe with her climbing up and playing,” Lucarelli said.
She said Lilah’s favorite part of Hambden Township Park are the baby swings, the sandpit and little kids’ playground with the short slides.
“She loves racing her friends down them,” Lucarelli said.
Lilah giggled and clapped as she met her friends, Benjamin Bowyer, 4, and Nora Bowyer, 2, along with their mom, Carina Bowyer, at the base of the slide.
“It’s great for children of any age,” Bowyer said. “There’s something for everyone. It’s nice as parents to be able to see where your children are at all times and let them explore freely.”
Benjamin enjoyed the sand and the digging equipment, as he kept a watchful eye on his younger sister, taking breaks to give her a brotherly hug.
“Anything that deals with digging or excavating, he is all about,” Bowyer said.
“My daughter and her friend, Lilah, enjoyed the smaller racing slides and the swings…
This summer went by extremely fast. We got to do some fun things, but I wish we had more time.”
She added, “It’s nice to have a clean, safe and well-organized playground so close to home and we appreciate all the township has done for the community.”
